The All Purpose MLB Thread

[Schad]

This probably deserves its own thread, but Roy Halladay left in the first inning of today's game, having maxed out at 83 MPH...it's looking like his career might be over.

If so, his Hall of Fame credentials look pretty goddamned good; the decreasing importance placed on wins works in his favour, and his peak-year stats (2300 IP between 2001-2011 at an ERA+ of 148) place him among the very elite, his overall career ERA+ ranks top-30 among starters in history, and despite a career that really only took off at age 24 and tailed off after age 34, his innings pitched per year are such that he rates pretty well among modern starters in many counting stats.

I'd love for him to be able to rebound, and get that much-deserved World Series ring...but if this is the end, it's been a damned fine run.

[There There]

Billy Hamilton is 13 for 13 stealing now.

If I'm not mistaken, tonight was his 11th game, of which all but two were as a pinch runner.

Sure, chicks dig the long ball, but what he is able to do once he is standing on a base is really quite special. Everyone in the park knows he is running as soon as he enters a game and there's not a thing anybody has been able to do to stop him yet.

[There There]

This probably deserves its own thread, but Roy Halladay left in the first inning of today's game, having maxed out at 83 MPH...it's looking like his career might be over.

If so, his Hall of Fame credentials look pretty goddamned good; the decreasing importance placed on wins works in his favour, and his peak-year stats (2300 IP between 2001-2011 at an ERA+ of 148) place him among the very elite, his overall career ERA+ ranks top-30 among starters in history, and despite a career that really only took off at age 24 and tailed off after age 34, his innings pitched per year are such that he rates pretty well among modern starters in many counting stats.

I'd love for him to be able to rebound, and get that much-deserved World Series ring...but if this is the end, it's been a damned fine run.

It would be unfortunate indeed if this is how it ends for him. I'm hoping it's just a case of him coming back too soon, since I would think he wanted to get back out there for a couple of starts as opposed to heading into a free agent season coming off a shoulder injury, but given the history on that arm it's certainly within the very real realm of possibility that he just doesn't have anything left.

[Schad]

I'd love it if he rallied and put down another couple seasons of above-average pitching to seal his HoF creds, but I really don't see it at this point. His arm looks to be gone...at this point, I hope that if he isn't in good shape come spring, he packs it in. There's nothing sports-related that tugs at the heartstrings more than a long-time idol whose body no longer cooperates.

[torontoaces04]

It's sad that Doc's career was wasted here in Toronto, playing for mediocre teams, but god were we lucky to have him!! He was as classy as they come, and was a top 5 pitcher for damn-near a decade! Doc should ride off into the sunset, feeling terrifically content with what he accomplished, but more-so who he will be remembered as.

[Santoki]

I was going to create a thread for Doc as well. It's sad the way he's going out. I do hope he gives it one more shot on his terms before calling it quits. He's probably not going to be with the Phillies next year, so what contender wants to take a shot on him? Braves? Nationals? Cards? Giants? Dodgers? Pirates? I just don't know if he can be slotted into anyone's rotation unless he does some private workouts and shows he's back to even half of his former self.

[Randle McMurphy]

Yet another reminder that time catches up with all of us. I hope he's able to sign on with a contender next year and finally win that title of his, but if he doesn't, it was still an amazing, memorable run. Definite HOF career for me.

[tecumseh18]

Definite HOF career for me.

Two guys have thrown a no-hitter in the playoffs. Don Larsen (perfect game), and Doc. That's pretty significant. As Votto said after that game, "He's an ace among aces".

Former Texas Ranger owner George W. Bush called Halladay his favourite pitcher in the game.

He'll get in. We may have to ensure a bit of Gary Carter-esque psycho drama about what uniform he's inducted in, but at least he didn't win the Series with the Phillies.

But I can't believe it's over. Doc took care of himself. Steve Carlton pitched forever, and in his last 200+ IP season at age 39 was 13 and 7 with an 3.58 ERA, ERA+ of 102.

[SharoneWright]

Stark's end-of-season Least Valuable Player: The Toronto Blue Jays!

AL Least Valuable Player (LVP): Josh Johnson and the Blue Jays

Six months ago, I picked Josh Johnson to win the AL Cy Young Award. I picked the Blue Jays to win the AL East. I thought their monster trade with the Marlins was a stroke of genius. I even thought Melky Cabrera was a decent roll of the Ontario dice. So it's safe to say I'm in no position to dump on this team and its ultra-thoughtful GM, Alex Anthopoulos, for all the stuff that went wrong this year. But holy crappola.

MY AL LVP ballot
1. Toronto Blue Jays
2. Josh Hamilton
3. Chris Young
4. Carlos Pena
5. Mike Moustakas
Special two-team citation: Mike Morse
Biogenesis Division:
Nelson Cruz, Jesus Montero

This outfit produced so many deserving LVP candidates, I had to let them share in this award. Johnson went 2-8 in 16 starts, made his fifth and sixth trips to the disabled list in the last seven seasons, killed the rotation, destroyed his free-agent marketability and became the second starter in the history of the franchise (joining Dave Lemanczyk) with an ERA (6.20) and WHIP (1.66) this ugly in this many innings. Melky had a .682 OPS, got four extra-base hits after May and then headed off for back surgery. Emilio Bonifacio and Maicer Izturis both had a sub-.600 OPS and combined for more errors (17) than steals (13). J.P. Arencibia hit .194, with a .229 OBP and 56 more strikeouts (147) than hits (91), and apparently wasn't real happy his broadcast team decided to mention that. He also helped the Jays become just the fourth team in the last 40 years to have three different catchers (Arencibia, Josh Thole, Henry Blanco) hit below the Mendoza Line (in 40-plus PA). And a rotation that was supposed to be their backbone wound up ranking 29th in the big leagues in ERA (4.80) and innings per start (5.57).

Normally, the LVP award is an individual achievement. But these Blue Jays remind us that every once in a while, we need to pick out an entire group and ask: "What the heck just happened?"

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/97273 ... best-worst